通过从事法律援助工作，希望有朝一日能拿到商务律师的高薪，这样的前景无疑是诱人的，特别是对于那些初出茅庐的律师们而言，因为这些秉持惩恶扬善信念进入法学院的年轻人们很快就会面临高额助学贷款的沉重压力。但如今，行业经济状况的变化使得法律援助时间再也不能像前些年那样随便给了。

    去年，免费法律援助时间的比例较2009年显著下降。然而与此同时，经济不景气导致越来越多的人陷入贫困，涉及企业破产、儿童监护权、银行没收房产和家庭暴力等问题的案件数量大增。预算赤字迫使政府缩减了为经济困难人群提供免费或折价法律服务的资金。

    随着免费法律援助时间减少，美国律师协会（American Bar Association）和其他团体正在探所新的方式招募律师志愿者来帮助有需要的人们处理复杂的法律事务。由于美国宪法只确保刑事案被告有律师代表出庭，民事诉讼案的原被告没有权利享受（免费）律师服务。

    对于数量远远超出刑事案件的民事案件，联邦政府会为经济困难人群提供部分法律援助资金，律师行业每年也会为有需要的人免费提供数百万小时的法律服务。美国律师协会估计有6,300万低收入人群（其中2,200万是儿童）符合获得民事法律援助的条件。

    由于法律援助时间和相关资金缩减，在美国的法庭上已经可以感受到这种危机，美国贫困率的上升更是加剧了这一现象。为此，上个月美国律师协会举办了首个全美法律援助峰会（National Pro Bono Summit），探索提高律师参与度的新方式。

    美国总检察长艾瑞克•霍尔德在峰会上发言，敦促法律界人士探索创新方式——包括招募退休律师和法律专业学生等——填补一些人指出的“基础法律服务和利用司法体系”之间存在的鸿沟。

顶级律师事务所法律援助时间缩水

    根据美国律师执业要求，律师通常需要承诺每年贡献20-50个小时的免费服务。律师可以与大量的地方团体或州级团体以及律师协会签约提供服务，但只有七个州会跟踪实际的参与情况，不参与的律师也不会受到惩罚。

    The promise of pro bono work with a corporate law salary is alluring, especially for budding lawyers who head to law school in the hope of righting wrongs but soon confront the reality of massive student loans. But the industry's changing economics are making it tougher to give away lawyers' hours as freely as in previous years.

    Last year, the percentage of free legal hours slid noticeably compared to 2009. The decline comes as the perilous economy pushes a greater number of people into poverty, which drives up bankruptcy, child custody, foreclosure and domestic violence cases, among others. At the same time, budget deficits are leading to cutbacks in government funding of no or low-cost legal services for those with limited means.

    As free legal hours fall, the American Bar Association and other groups are trying to come up with new ways to enlist lawyers to assist in navigating the court system. Those involved in civil cases do not have a right to a lawyer becuase the Constitution guarantees legal representation only to those who are accused criminally.

    In civil cases, which are far more numerous than criminal proceedings, the federal government funds some legal aid for the needy, and lawyers traditionally donate millions of unpaid hours every year to help. The ABA estimates that 63 million low-income people (of which 22 million are children) are qualified for civil representation.

    The increase in the American poverty rate has exacerbated a crisis that's already being felt in the courts due to funding cutbacks and diminishing pro bono legal aid. In response, the ABA held its first National Pro Bono Summit last month to explore new ways to ramp up lawyer participation.

    U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, speaking at the summit, urged those in the legal profession to come up with novel ways -- including enlisting retired lawyers and law students, among others -- to plug what some are calling a chasm in basic legal services and access to the justice system.

Donated legal hours take a hit at Big Law

    Lawyers typically pledge to devote between 20 and 50 hours of free work annually as part of state bar licensing. They can sign up with a number of different local or state groups or bar associations to offer their services, but only seven states track participation, and lawyers who opt out are not penalized.

    没有人统计过全美法律援助服务的时间总量，但华盛顿公益法律事务研究所（Pro Bono Institute）近日的一项调查发现，在编律师人数至少为50人的大律师事务所提供的律师人均法律援助时间去年较2009年减少了8.6%。 当然，2009年是近20年法律援助历史上最活跃的一年。

    调查结果印证了去年夏天《美国律师》杂志（The American Lawyer）发布的一项研究。当时的研究显示，美国最大的200家律师事务所中律师人均法律援助时间减少了8%。

    律师事务所压缩法律援助时间是因为“心里有担忧，而且他们也没有迅速招募新员工来满足经济开始复苏时客户需求的增长，” 公益法律事务研究所首席执行官埃斯特•拉登特表示。“很多法律援助工作都是由年轻律师完成的，一旦年轻律师本人手不够，自然优先满足收费服务。”

    如今，各个律师事务所都在不遗余力地试图留住或赢得付费客户。规模居前的大型律师事务所更是在手忙脚乱地调整，努力适应“一些公司客户再也不愿自动支付高昂的小时收费服务”这一新现实，而小时收费正是大多数律师事务所的财务基石。

    不过，法律援助服务确实能让在编律师能有机会处理一些棘手案件、获得案件审理经验以及做善事的成就感，同时仍然享有丰厚的薪资收入。

    接受Pro Bono Institute调查的一些大律师事务所承诺，每年将相当于收费小时3-5%的时间用于提供法律援助服务，相当于在编律师每年平均60-100个小时。

    但《美国律师》杂志的调查发现，一些瑞生律师事务所（Latham & Watkins）这样的主要律师事务所贡献的小时数在显著减少。总部位于洛杉矶的瑞生律师事务所报告，它贡献的小时数减少了47,000小时，降幅高达30%——虽然该律师事务所的律师总人数增加了10%。

    其他诸如纽约Cravath, Swaine & Moore这样的知名律师事务所贡献的法律援助时间在显著增加，另一些律师事务所则保持了稳定。但非营利性机构美国法律服务公司（Legal Services Corp.）的负责人吉姆•桑德曼表示，由于法律援助时间的减少正赶上法院系统超负荷运转，那些需要帮助的人们至少有一半得不到法律援助。Legal Services Corp.分布在全美各地的几百个办事处接受志愿者以及私人执业律师的协助，提供免费或折价法律服务。

    No one tracks the overall volunteer attorney hours nationwide, but a recent study by the Pro Bono Institute, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit, found that the average number of pro bono hours per attorney at big firms, each of which has at least 50 lawyers, sank by 8.6% last year compared to 2009. To be sure, 2009 was the most active year recorded in the program's nearly two-decade history.

    The findings mirror a study released last summer by The American Lawyer, which reported an 8% decline in the average pro bono hours for attorneys at the top 200 U.S. law firms.

    Law firms are lagging in donating legal help because "they are anxious, and they don't staff up quickly to meet the increase in client demand when the economy begins to improve," says Esther Lardent, chief executive of the Pro Bono Institute. "Much of the pro bono work is done by younger lawyers, but when they are in short supply, paid work is the priority."

    Currently, law firms are racing to retain, or win, paying clients, and the largest firms especially are scrambling to adjust to a new world where restive corporate clients are no longer as willing to automatically pay the sky-high hourly rates that are the bedrock of most law firms' finances.

    Still, pro bono work gives staff attorneys a chance to handle challenging cases, gain trial experience, and pat themselves on the back for doing good while still earning handsome wages.

    The large firms -- which self-report -- surveyed by the Pro Bono Institute pledged to contribute between 3% and 5% of their billable hours annually to pro bono work. That amounts to between 60 hours and 100 hours per staff attorney.

    But The American Lawyer survey found that some major law firms like Latham & Watkins registered notable declines in donated hours. The Los Angeles-based firm reported 47,000 fewer hours, a 30% drop in donated hours -- even as the overall number of firm lawyers increased by 10%.

    Other legal powerhouses like Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York added substantially to their pro bono annual totals, while other firms stayed steady. But as fewer donated hours stack up against an overloaded court system, at least half of those in legal need will not receive services, says Jim Sandman, head of the non-profit Legal Services Corp., whose hundreds of offices across the country are assisted by volunteer or discounted services provided by private lawyers.

    华盛顿知名律师事务所安庆国际法律事务所（Akin Gump）法律援助主管史蒂夫•舒尔曼指出：“作为一家律师事务所，我们的规模有所缩水，所以，法律援助时间自然就降下来了。”舒尔曼说，安庆通过重组，在编律师人数比2007年最高峰时期减少了近200人，导致法律援助时间下降。

    安庆今年以来已提供48,000小时的免费法律援助服务，预计全年将接近去年的57,000小时。他说，此类工作“仍能吸引顶级法学院的毕业生加盟。”

    大中型律师事务所也有更强的经济实力来支付法律援助服务产生的费用，如差旅费用。但舒尔曼坚持称：“我们需要支付律师的薪水，这是公司的固定成本。额外拨出一个小时用于法律援助的花费虽然不会像带薪服务那么高，但对律所而言也并不是零成本。”

法律援助培养律所新人

    公益法律事务研究所的拉登特称，可能的解决方案是建立一套模式，正式将法律援助工作作为“律师锻炼技能和获取经验的途径”。由于企业客户不太愿意为新手律师的在岗培训买单，她说，法律援助工作正好能够提供这种机会。

    如果法律援助的时间不够，为什么不对大律师事务所及所有执业律师规定一个强制性的下限时间？

    “强制规定缺乏可操作性，”舒尔曼坚持称。“法学院需要效仿医学院，规定相当时间的临床实践，而不只是一个学期1个学分就够了。”

    “比如，法学院的学生们可以在法律服务办公室实习，”他说。“学生们可以花两年时间实习，两年时间在法学院学习。”

    殖民时期有志于成为律师的人需要在执业律师的指导下学习法律实践，因此，今天的法学院学生们也可以在公益法律援助办公室实习，理解法律。学徒模式一直延续到19世纪末（有些州如今仍然认可这种做法），直到美国律师协会开始敦促正规的研究生教育，后来就演变成了今天的的法学院。

    At Akin Gump, a prominent law firm in Washington, D.C., Steve Schulman, head of the pro bono practice, notes, "as a firm, we are a bit leaner, so, of course, pro bono hours are down." A firm restructuring trimmed nearly 200 attorneys from its roster since 2007, which has resulted in a reduced pro bono case load, Schulman says.

    Akin Gump lawyers have racked up 48,000 free hours so far this year, and the firm expects to be close to last year's 57,000 total hours. Such work, he says, "is still a draw to recruit top law students."

    Larger firms also have deeper pockets to cover expenses, such as travel, to pursue a pro bono case. But, Schulman maintains, that while "our attorneys are on salary, which is a fixed cost, and it doesn't cost that much to generate an extra free hour, the cost to the firm of these hours is not zero."

Pro bono cases as apprentice work?

    One potential solution is to create a model where pro bono work is formally used as "the way lawyers gain skills and experience," says the Pro Bono Institute's Lardent. Since fewer corporate clients are willing to pick up the tab for novice lawyers to learn on the job, she says, pro bono work can provide those opportunities.

    If not enough hours are being devoted to pro bono work, why not just come up with a mandatory minimum for big firms or all practicing lawyers?

    "A mandate would not be enforceable in any way that is meaningful," maintains Schulman. "Law schools need to follow the medical school model and devote significant time to clinical practice so it's not just one credit a semester.

    "Law students could apprentice to a legal services office, for example," he says, "and could spend two years learning and two years in law school."

    Like aspiring lawyers in colonial days who learned the legal ropes under the tutelage of a practicing attorney, law students today could apprentice themselves at public interest or legal aid offices to "read the law," a practice that largely did not change (although a few states still allow it) until the 1890s, when the ABA began urging formal post-college instruction -- what is now called law school.